Such devices are used for taking care of fractures at the proximal femur, especially unstable trochanteric fractures of the AO classification type 31-A2 and 31-A3.
Such a device is disclosed in EP 0 515 828 A1 and comprises a tubular link plate and a trochanter stabilization plate, which is detachably connected therewith. It is a disadvantage of this known device that:                the trochanter stabilization plate is relatively rigid and can hardly adapt itself to the respective anatomy;        angularly stable screws cannot be used;        the use of corticalis screws also is hardly possible, since the cortex is very thin in the region of the large trochanter and hardly permits any anchoring of the corticalis screws;        the fixation with cerclage is inadequate under some circumstances. In the case of this known plate, the large trochanter can be fixed only with the help of a cerclage wire. Under some circumstances, however, this type of fixation is insufficient for preventing dislocation in the cranial direction of the large trochanter, since the gluteus medius muscle, which engages the large trochanter, pulls with a force, which corresponds approximately to the weight of the body; and        the modularity is limited. With the known trochanter stabilization plate, it is not always possible to take into account the different anatomies and fracture configurations.        
The German utility patent U1 87 06 912.1 discloses a small-bone plate for taking care of fractures of the skull skeleton and of the facial skeleton, that is, for an application other than for the fixation of bone fragments in a region in the vicinity of a joint. This known bone plate is constructed linearly, L-shaped, or as a double T, depending on its application, and has actually no central plate and, instead, is constructed on the whole as a conventional bone plate. This known plate therefore cannot be used for the fixation of bone fragments in an area in the vicinity of a joint.